HAO Jingfang & WANG Lingjie: The Idea of Order at Key West
Past exhibition
Press release
The sea was not a mask. No more was she.
The song and water were not medleyed sound
Even if what she sang was what she heard,
Since what she sang was uttered word by word.
It may be that in all her phrases stirred
The grinding water and the gasping wind;
But it was she and not the sea we heard.
——From "The Idea of Order at Key West" by Wallace Stevens
Arario Gallery Shanghai is pleased to announce the solo exhibition "The Idea of Order at Key West" by the artist duo HAO Jingfang & WANG Lingjie from November 3, 2023, to January 6, 2024. The exhibition title is derived from the poem by modernist poet Wallace Stevens, for they share the common theme on the interdependence between art and reality.
"The Idea of Order at Key West", written in 1934, stands as a luminous testament to Stevens' literary prowess. The poem, drenched in vivid imagery, paints the tableau of a woman singing by the sea. As she sings, the narrative unfolds into a profound philosophical musing on the intertwining realms of art and reality, order and chaos. The woman, portrayed as an ethereal artist, draws her melodic inspiration from the very heart of nature. Even as her voice resonates with the "grinding water and the gasping wind", it is her soulful rendition that imposes a sense of order upon the restless wind and tumultuous ocean, sculpting a sanctuary of harmony in an otherwise dissonant world.
Stevens raises a pivotal question within his poem: which holds greater weight, art or reality? Right from the outset of the poem, he elucidates his stance, "She sang beyond the genius of the sea. / The water never formed to mind or voice.” Stevens proposes that art possesses the power to reshape our perception and even the reality. Great artists tend to foster a profound, overarching understanding of life and harbor an earnest desire to infuse order into this chaotic world.
"Art or reality, which is more paramount?” WANG Lingjie once posed this very question to HAO Jingfang. It's also a dilemma that artists grapple with during their creative process, and one's perspective on art can indeed shape their attitude towards creation and life choices. When confronted with this query, HAO didn't offer an answer. Instead, she took inspiration from it, beginning to conceive this installation work.
A plum blossom with five petals was gently cast to the ground, forming the visual motif of this work. The idea was drawn from the opening line of another contemporary poem titled "In the Mirror": "Whenever life's regrets whisper to memory, the plum blossoms softly tumble down.（只要想起一生中后悔的事，梅花便落了下来）” The poet behind these words is ZHANG Zao（张枣）, also the Chinese translator of the English poem "The Idea of Order at Key West".
With a solid academic background of both art and technology, the artist crafted a work that melds poetic sensibility with the intricacies of technology through meticulous calculations and in-depth research into various materials, equipment, and technical principles, continuing the consistent temperament of their creations. HAO said she created this work as her response to WANG’ question and also as a gift to her partner.
About HAO Jingfang & WANG Lingjie
HAO Jingfang (1985, born in Shandong) & WANG Lingjie (1984, born in Shanghai), they are duo artists, co-founder of Jiuzhi Tech. They obtained a Bachelor of Engineering in Shanghai Maritime University in 2007 and later received a master’s degree in art from École Supérieure d'Art de Lorraine in France and a diploma in DNSEP. Now they reside in Mulhouse (France) and Shanghai. The creation of the two artists focuses on subtle changes in nature and our perception, with the main media including installations and images. By using the principles of material science and engineering, the works present an exploration of the relationship between cognition, emotion and nature, and convey a metaphysical reflection of intertwined rationality and sensibility. The dual professional background of art and engineering effectively promotes their exploration of the ultimate commonality between material and the spiritual world.
About Sun Drawing
2012 -present
light, thermal paper
dimensions variable
Sun Drawing is a long-term project combining light and meteorological elements on daily basis. Works in this project are realized in different ways according to given situations: the artists utilize an instrument composed by optical devices and thermal paper to document an image of the Sun path. Every day, the sunlight affected by immediate weather and surroundings is focused on a piece of thermal paper through a lens, leaving its own trace on the surface along with the motion of the Sun across the sky; in some cases, the work is created in a laboratorial way, integrating artificial light beam and meteorological data (the length of daylight, temperature etc.) of a certain area.
Works
